Boynton Trail Sedona

Sedona Arizona 

March 16th, 2020

64 degrees 

I awoke a few times at our camp sight in the night to the sound of the stream and it was so loud I was sure I would wake up at sea, or at least my car to have floated away. 

But no, I woke to my kind boyfriend making breakfast. 

I ran about the campsite looking at rocks, and sticks and lizards, and enjoyed the morning. 

Then we cleaned up camp and drove along more dirt roads to our destination: Boynton Trailhead. 

In the parking lot was a very lean and dust covered man who told us where to park. We were a bit skeptical as he looked more like a drifter than a member of the park service. He then shared with us her volunteers for the park service to assist hikers and kindly pointed us to the tail-head. 

This trail started out by looking like a scene in the Wizard of Oz, you know the one with the wide flat path, and the short scrubby trees. No yellow brick road but the red earth leads you on and upward along a rock wall. There are lots of spots where a hiker gets glimpses, interesting rock formations in the distance. This trail  has the charm of a Japanese garden, little peaks of really beautiful shapes around corners and though branches.  

We for a short time could hear a person working at a resort below the hike, some sound like a weed eater, or a lawn mower. I found the sound nostalgic it reminded of days playing in my room and hearing that my Mom and Dad were right outside. 

One section  of the hike was a natural hallway lined with blooming manzanita shrubs, and white butterflies with orange wings. The red branches, the green leaves and the white bell shaped flowers with bits of pink set agains a backdrop of blue sky and towering rusty mountains was awe inspiring, an in addition to the visual beauty was the delicate floral smell of the blossoms. A true sensory treat. 

Following the manzanita hallway was a wooded forest. The trail curled into the trees, tall pines with vertical red sandstone walls on each side. At times we could hear water falling down the walls and disappearing under the rocks and behind tall grasses but could not always see it. 

After this there was a short climb and I do admit some whining, but it was my birthday and I was able to whine and climb in good spirits. 

I am grateful to have a partner who is supportive and enjoys the wild like I do . At the end of the trail we sat on a sloping bit of sandstone and looked  out at the mountain made of rocks. In areas where water runs it has turned black. 

We shared a peanut better and jelly sandwich and good conversations. Then hiked back down to see the vortex. On the way up I thought we were going to the vortex so I had a brief tantrum concerned I would not get to feel whatever one feels from magical lines in the Earth but we did find the area that is a "vortex hotspot", it was a bit of a climb to the area but defiantly worth it, and you know you are there because lots of humans can be found sitting cross legged across the landscape. We climbed up and found a spot among the others. Chad looked one way I looked another. There was a vast valley before me and a rock that looked like e.t. then after some time in quiet medication we headed down the hill to the car, another great day filled with challenge, friendship, color, and beauty. 

Cathedral Trail

This was the second of my birthday weekend hikes. The first the beautiful one in Phoenix (see previous post) 

Place: Sedona Arizona 
Trail: Cathedral Trail 
March 15, 2020 last day before I turned 44. 
It was 63 degrees 

We had some trouble finding the trail head. Chad's phone map stops working each time we get close. I turn the car around and navigate the roundabout a few times, as Chad huffs and grovels with his frustration. 

We do at last find the trail head. It is impossible to park close due to the spots popularity.
So we find a spot up the hill with the car tilted off the side of the road and we joyfully popped out the car and wandered down the road to the trail head. 

This soil was a rich red and seemed damp like clay ready to be fired. The red soil, the green trees, and the blue sky always make Sedona seem unreal. Again like the purple cholla field in the Tortillas the world is a vibrant photograph come to life. Blooming Manzanita, cypress trees with winding roots, and pinion pines greet as at the beginning as we climb to the cathedral 

There were quite a few people but all are cordial with one another. I think it helped my expectation was to be ready for other humans and I enjoyed most of them. 

I do in my head start to curse my love a little as my fear of heights meets me at a narrow crack up the hill. There is a small platform where we move out of the way for hikers descending down. I feel my familiar vertigo my head spins and my hands shake and worry I wont be able to continue. 

Thinking back my fear feels silly. I am strong and agile and climb easily. Vertigo is the real challenge, as dizziness, and long falls seems to be a valid fear. 

The hike is worth it. There are piles of rocks  in metal cages shaped like cylinders that mark the way when the trail is not there or hard to find. There were also markings that say "Healing in Progress" for over traveled areas, which is a nice reminder to stay on the trail. 

At the top of the accent you can see a vast landscape and tall red spheres of sandstone. This area is called a "vortex".

A vortex is a place that has magnetic pull. It is supposed to be healing. 

As I sit on the edge of a cliff face. Chad reminds me to breath and as do I can look out at the valley below. I close my eyes and feel the wind on my face and feel my body soften and perhaps it is magic because I feel no fear on the decent. 

We see two different brides coming to this cathedral to be married (or at least to take photos). My favorite in a bride in a beautiful dress and black hiking boots. I do love contrast. 

We end the hike at a stream. I take off my socks and shoes and rest my feet in the cold water. Chad joins me and we sit on the red sandstone the cold water running over our feet. The stream runs through the pinion pines. We watch families pass telling there little ones not to get there shoes wet, they look at us and have moments of defiance. Even though the evening is not hot the act is a primal calling and it is a refreshing gift on my sore and tried feet. 

We climb the hill to the car and decide to stop for pizza. I order and Orange Blossom beer that is delicious. Chad I think had an IPA. It is almost too cold to sit outside but we do it anyway. 

Then we find a campsite for the night in an area that is like and old ranch, rugged trees, large rocks and run off ditches next to a windy dirt road. Chad finds enough logs for a brief fire and in the dark of the night we snuggle together for warmth and the sky is as beautiful as city lights in the distance at night, it is salt on an Oreo cookie, it is a light bright with all the lights plugged in. It is Christmas night on that street everyone drives slow through and it is all natural magic via stars. 

South Mountain Perserve

Place: South Mountain Preserve

Phoenix AZ 

Status of Humans: Hungover 

no dogs 

no child 

Humans 1 Michelle 43 Years old 1 Chad 45 Weather Pleasant 

Hike: Holbert Trail. 

Distance 4.6 miles (plus a smidge more for missing our turn in the dark) 

This trail head was inhabited by a birthday party. We met the matriarch of the party, a kind women sporting a tiny pink crown made of sparkled paper. tilted just to the left in her grey hair. She shared the family was celebrating her grand daughters birthday. The party had larger than life Toy Story characters -Woody and Buzz Lightyear Conga dancing with the people celebrating, it seemed a bit surreal. 

Chad and I glanced at the party, greeted the grandmother and began our trek onto the Holbert trail. 

 Large rocks stained black with rust red insides pile up around us. For plants I saw familiars from Tucson, ocotillo, prickly pear, and barrel cactus. 

In the wash at the beginning of the trail there were three large circular fire pits. I liked imagining the people of Phoenix on a cool spring night celebrating in that spot, friends circled around fire pits, enjoying the desert night. 

There were petroglyphs on this hike, people of simple design carved onto the rock. 

One of the nice things about this hike was the change in perspective. It takes a hiker up, up, up, above the city and a hiker can see the valley down below to the right. 

There were wildflowers everywhere so many of them were purple I did not know their names.

 

The hike curls up out of the valley. Other hikers walked by carrying bouquets of picked wild flowers and we stoped to admire a tree on the side of the trail that had beautiful shaped branches. 

I waited more time than usual to add this entry into my nature journal and I could feel my mind aching to recapture how truly lovely this hike was. 

It was steep enough to give my legs a work out. The work out sweated out my poor choices of the night before. I felt my sleepy-foggy-self burn off and as I gained focus, I felt strong and the hike topped out in an area where saguaros were gold in the setting sun. We rounded a corner to find a hedgehog in full bloom, a blot of fuchsia in the green, tan and gold. landscape. Dessert magnolias with their sage green leaves dot the landscape adding texture and color, not that the desert needs the extra texture but the splashes of yellow and sage let this hiker know it was defiantly spring. 

At the top at sunset I turned my phone on to discover the school I was to work at on the 17th of March would be closed due to the pandemic. I panicked a bit as the sun set around me rambling on about my concerns of perhaps being out of work. Having just moved and not wanting to have to rely on my partners income. 

Then 

the quiet rocks and landscape 

in the dusk 

took all my worries 

and I 

like the landscape 

fell quiet. 

At least for a moment until I began to worry that I would step on a rattle snake. Or Chad would, and he is too big to carry down a hill. I turned on my head lamp to look about for them and Chad got upset saying "I was blinding him in the eyes" I got fussy about his response then tried to fix the light to a softer setting, embarrassed. In the distance before I turned on the light the city lights could be seen. I found them beautiful like jewels in an otherwise dark landscape. Chad shared he did not like them. I understand they show civilization. We are no longer in the wild. I suppose I love the city and the wild and can feel my feet standing in between. 

This hike is just outside Phoenix Arizona 1.63 million people. My expectations were a crowded hike but we only ran across a handful of hikers. I think this has to do with the time we ventured out, returning to the car in the dark close to 8pm or perhaps the other change on the horizon. 

We then went to Indian food at Star of India then napped in the car like babies or puppies a quick transition from play to sleep. The world at this this moment was changing. I did not really grasp it yet. The quiet of Corona was arriving, the hike and the restaurant were impacted.   

Constellation Trail

International Woman's Day

 03/08/2020

 1.7 miles 

Motivation to go: Low 

Fun had: High 

It was a bit cold out, my Tucson blood was still thin and I felt lazy to hide under blankets in the house. But, I knew the fresh air would do us all good. 

The trail began flat and sandy and I  commented, it seemed like a nice place to run. Chad promptly pointed out, "It does not remain flat". Chad is familiar with this trail as it just a short drive from his home. Only recently did they add a charge of $3 to park at the trailhead.

Something about this space has me drawn to it. I want to stop on my way home and slink off into the trees. The large cottonwood trees at the beginning of the trail head offer shade and mystique. 

There was a space before the trail ended where two trees leaning together made an arch. I like imagining these kind of spaces are magic portals. As, I slip through, I am transformed into a frog. Chad chooses a dragonfly. I tell he him to "look out" as he would then be my snack. He decides he would be a giant dragonfly, too big for me to eat, and we would form a friendship and travel together. This hike throughout indulges our imagination. There was a shape in one rock that looked like a pet or some sort of cartoon, we named him Brutus with no need to tell him to stay. 

There was another rock that was set up high and looked like and artists depiction of a goddess yoni and thighs. 

A perfect celebration of the female form. 

Chad and I stand in one spot sharing all we see in the rocks like children looking at clouds. 

Back on the grounded earth this hike is typical of The Dells, large granite boulders, scrub oaks, and deer and love grass. The birds were the occasional scrub jay and a local bird I don't know yet. I see it in our front yard. The bird is orange and black with white flecks or spots contrasting in its black  feathers. The birds eyes are also a bright orange. Thanks to the internet I learned it is a western spotted towhee. I like meeting this new bird. His song sounds a bit like a Mexican singer rolling his/her "r". 

Drawing of the Towhee 

A short hike but overall an enjoyable experience, rooted in imagination and always the case the hike washed the lazy away and we leave feeling fresh.